Bucklin12

That was a 5 pitch inning for Gardner... even though they are all trying to get out of there. 5 pitches. 5 strikes.

Man, what did they say about the HR pitch.

Thanks, Benched. And once again, thanks so much for pbp, it helps my workday so much.

What a fantastic start for Olsen and the offense What happened with Cabs?

This thread is like the movie, "Mean Girls," only without Rachel McAdams. That's it, I'm now an O's Fan. Masochist. Masochism is what I'm experiencing right now.

VIERA ? That first season in the Dominican Summer League, Alejandro De Aza attempted 16 steals and was caught nine times. Tough to believe now, but he wasn't notably fast as a recently signed 17-year-old with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He ran a 7.2 60-yard dash. In the years since, he's trimmed a full second off that time and in the process put himself on a fast track to the big leagues. De Aza almost certainly won't be the center fielder when the Marlins open the season April 2 at Washington. That's not to say he won't make his major league debut at some point this season. "At worst, if he doesn't make this club he's given us the confidence that if something happens during the course of the year I have no problem bringing him up," said manager Fredi Gonzalez, who watched De Aza go 1 for 4 with a stolen base in Sunday's 3-1 win over the Nationals at Space Coast Stadium. "Something good always happens when he comes in. He can lay the bunt down. He can handle the bat. He brings energy." The Marlins selected De Aza in the minor league phase of the 2004 Rule 5 Draft. He missed more than two months with a wrist contusion last season and still garnered a spot in the Double-A Southern League All-Star Game. "They say I'm still young and I have a good future ahead of me," said De Aza, who turns 22 on April 11. "I've fought hard. I just have to do my job and they'll know what to do with me." Since joining the Marlins, De Aza has been successful on 64 of 94 stolen base attempts. He's also totaled a respectable 83 walks and 137 strikeouts in 200 games. "[stealing bases] is going to be a big part of my game and I like to do it," De Aza said. "Every day I learn new things. At every level it gets tougher to steal bases. Whenever I hear anybody talking about stolen bases I listen to know how I can do it better." Though only 69 of his 464 career games have come above the Class A level, De Aza says he's prepared for the ultimate step. "I'm ready physically and mentally for that [jump]," he said. "Since I've played winter ball two years now in the Dominican, that's helped me a lot because I've played with many big-league players and I'm more familiar with them. "I think I'm ready for it." http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basebal...-sports-marlins Thanks Holly... I really really love this kid. I know he isn't a phenom by any means, but I definitely believe he can be a productive Major Leaguer who brings some crazy energy. I went to the game yesterday and could not wait for all the Hoovers and Boones to finish their AB's so I could watch De Aza. When you see him, you just believe something not utterly disappointing will happen. I hope the Marlins treat him right.

This thread is like the movie, "Mean Girls," only without Rachel McAdams. That's it, I'm now an O's Fan.

and where would Aaron Boone/Kevin Gregg be going? My bad, I meant to put that under Messenger. Also... an ironic piece of news... Reggie hit a 2 run jack today in the Isotopes game against New Orleans

Starters: 1B. Mike Jacobs 2B. Dan Uggla SS. Hanley Ramirez 3B. Miguel Cabrera C. Miguel Olivo RF. Jeremy Hermida CF. Eric Reed LF. Josh Willingham Bench: OF. Joe Borchard OF. Alex Sanchez IF. Jason Wood IF. Alfredo Amezaga C. Matt Treanor Pitchers: SP. Dontrelle Willis SP. Anibal Sanchez SP. Scott Olsen SP. Ricky Nolasco SP. Sergio Mitre RP. Henry Owens RP. Matt Lindstrom RP. Taylor Tankersly RP. Renyel Pinto RP. Yusmeiro Petit RP. Randy Messenger RP. Kevin Gregg (leaves when JJ comes back) This isn't exactly what I want... just what I think will happen.

From what I heard tonight, Jeremy is going to have about 75 at bats or so to prove himself once the season starts. Everyone is hoping he does, because a demotion would damage is weak psyche. He takes things very hard. You never know if someone can make it back after that. Billy Beane

This is pointless. It has to be Hermida. In the on consistent stint he had last season he had that was injury free, I think he hit like .295 or something. This is ST... if we yank Hermida for a crappy spring, we also need to bench Hammer and Uggla, as they have been considerably dismal as well.

still Messenger in there?

Cabrera doubles to right Borchard walks Hermida hits one off his foot and he's hurting Hermida flies out (2-35) Olivo Ks looking end 6, 3-2 O's that's 3 total bases for Hermida, this spring

Kevin Millar flies out to Hermida mid 5, 3-2 O's Amezaga flies out to Payton end 5, 3-2 O's Randy Messenger is the new Marlins pitcher Payton grounds to Boone who throws the ball behind Messenger. Payton reaches on an error Melvin Mora grounds into a 6-4-3 DP Did it sound like Dontrelle had a good outing? I saw he produced a lot of ground balls and threw a lot of strikes. 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks. Lowered his ERA a little to 6.92 but he's still having a dismal spring. Keep in mind that we are playing Baltimore. Boone grounds out to Mora Yeah, it's spring... I'm just looking at strikes and if he can get the ball down.

Amezaga flies out to Payton end 5, 3-2 O's Randy Messenger is the new Marlins pitcher Payton grounds to Boone who throws the ball behind Messenger. Payton reaches on an error Melvin Mora grounds into a 6-4-3 DP Did it sound like Dontrelle had a good outing? I saw he produced a lot of ground balls and threw a lot of strikes.

Borchard walks Borchard caught stealing. Wasn't even close. It was a hit and run and Hermida checked his swing. :banghead Hermida Ks for the second time :banghead :banghead :banghead I think we need to stop worrying about CF so much and concentrate on our soon to be holes in RF and 2B

thanks for the pbp

Anyone got info on todays game, the box is so slow at MLB.com

I will add, that Alex Sanchez has a .296 average, with a .330 OBP in 1,527 Major League At Bats. he also was out of the major leagues last year, and struggled in AAA In the end he still has no plate discipline and no power. People just can't get over that batting average figure, can they? I just used the BA as others throughout this board are using Borch's stats for his sake. I know Sanchez has no power, and is able to see such a high clip in his BA because he plays such small offense. I know he was out of the majors last year, and yes he struggled in AAA, but he also excelled in AA for the majority of the season. I'm not vying for Sanchez or anyone else to get the job. In fact, I would be moderately pleased to see Borch out in CF once the season begins. I am just challenging the overall approval of Joe Borchard's essential lifespan in CF. He is just not a centerfielder, in my opinion, and he has never proven that he could be. I respect all of your opinions, and I guess I am just a contrarion by nature.

Baseball is about runs. Centerfield is usually a spot braced for SB's, and a high OBP, which create runs. In the "forgotten" Runs Created stat it shows Borchard creating only 55 runs in 600 AB's throughout his career. This is an incredibly low number. His OBP is at a career .283 which is definitely not good, and granted last year, he had a career year with his .318 OBP. But speed and runs, is where the league trend is in CF for the most part. Even if he hits 20 homeruns, this will not make up for his lack of run production. Homeruns are severely overrated when it comes to creating runs. We are losing so much of at this position with Borchard. Borchard hit well in pinch situations, but I can almost gurantee he will definitely contribute the least amount of any starter. I'd rather see Reed, Sanchez, or Abercrombie. yes yes yes well done yes//// Finally Except it's wrong. Perhaps better put missing part of the equation. This kind of stat use, while interesting ignores the possibility that a player, especially a player who so far has had limited playing time and much of it in late innings, inserted in the lineup for some specialty reason, can get better with more experience and playing time. Not all players come out of the box ala Miguel Cabrera. Take any random group of fifty or a hundred ballplayers and look at their numbers over their first 1,000 ABs. My guess is those who stuck around will improve as they are used more and learn. It takes a while for your average (and that word is not being used disparagingly) MLB player to come up and get adjusted to the caliber of pitching in the bigs where fastballs aren't straight as string and move like curveballs in the minors, and curveballs break like they were falling off a table rather than a few inches at AA. I have no idea whether Borchard ever becomes an everyday major league ballplayer or not, but I also think (respectfully) no one can say with any certainty that he won't. He claims to have made adjustments to his swing this spring working with Presley. Maybe it works and we have a terrific piece of talent on our hands, or it may not and he's gone by July. But to look back over 537 ABs over five years and come to a defintive conclusion about the guy I say is premature at best. Yup. Admin Beinfest himself has said you don't know what kind of player you have until he's got at 1000 at bats under his belt (I'm assuming 1000 consistent at bats, as opposed to spread out). That's the thing about stats. Their purpose is to record value and determine it for what it is, not what it could be. If this was the case you would have to look at Reggie, and say he could really end up being a very productive major leaguer, just as well as Borch could. I like Borch, I really do. I want to see him on the club in a semi-significant role. But, I don't think CF is the spot. That's just my opinion, seperated from any statistics. I will conceed that Borch might possibly be the best immediate solution for the Marlins, but his past doesn't stack up either, just like Reggie's doesn't, just like Reed's doesn't. So, I don't think he needs to be handed the ugly CF crown, considering his past performance, and that he is in all reality a defensive liabilty. I will add, that Alex Sanchez has a .296 average, with a .330 OBP in 1,527 Major League At Bats.

Baseball is about runs. Centerfield is usually a spot braced for SB's, and a high OBP, which create runs. In the "forgotten" Runs Created stat it shows Borchard creating only 55 runs in 600 AB's throughout his career. This is an incredibly low number. His OBP is at a career .283 which is definitely not good, and granted last year, he had a career year with his .318 OBP. But speed and runs, is where the league trend is in CF for the most part. Even if he hits 20 homeruns, this will not make up for his lack of run production. Homeruns are severely overrated when it comes to creating runs. We are losing so much of at this position with Borchard. Borchard hit well in pinch situations, but I can almost gurantee he will definitely contribute the least amount of any starter. I'd rather see Reed, Sanchez, or Abercrombie.

at this point, I think it's Reed's job to lose.. although I really hope they give Borch some more looks in CF Platooning guys will never give a shot to guys like Abercrombie, Reed, or De Aza. They need to know and be confident that they are the CF for the Florida Marlins. I understand the benefits of a platoon, and I just don't think it's more worthy than a single starter. I even think Borchard by himself or even Ross by himself would do better than a Borch/Ross platoon. Whoever it is will definitely have his seasons of struggle, but we have to stick with that CFer. We didn't shut down Hanley when he went 0 for 29 last year, and he ended up producing crazy numbers after that slump, because we stuck with him.

I don't want to see a platoon. I think it will do nothing but enhance our gaping deficiencies as a team. We know what Borchard and Ross can do, and while they both had some spectacular clutch moments last year, their ceiling is just not high enough for a team in contention. We need to give Abercrombie, Reed, or Sanchez a consistent chance at owning a position, and I think something good will come out of it. Borchard and Ross are situational guys, not everyday guys. I think one of those 3 possibly could be. Maybe De Aza will improve and come up in the AS Break if it's still not working out. We just don't need to platoon anyone, you either like one guy over the other, and that should be it.

... wish you were here Jacoby Amen.

Anyone got access to this game?